Julie was pleased to present on “AI and the Legal Industry: Recent Developments and Ethical Implications” at the Association of Fraternal Benefit Counsel’s annual conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in July 2026.
Joe was a panel speaker at the Defense Research Institute’s Life, Health, Disability, and ERISA Committee’s annual 3-day seminar, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia in April 2026. He presented on Annuities: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask.
Julie was honored to chair the Defense Research Institute’s Life, Health, Disability, and ERISA Committee’s annual 3-day seminar, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia in April 2026.
Julie spoke at the Association of Fraternal Benefit Counsel’s annual conference in Savannah, Georgia on Ethical Implications of AI for Attorneys in June 2025.
Julie was honored to speak at and co-chair the Defense Research Institute’s Life, Health, Disability, and ERISA Committee’s annual conference, held in Denver, Colorado in April 2025. She presented on Artificial Intelligence.
On May 16, 2022, South Carolina passed a life insurance rescission statute codifying S.C. Code Ann. § 38-63-230, which conclusively forbids unilateral rescission of life insurance policies and sets forth strict procedures and essential language insurers must use to achieve mutual rescission. The Law also amended S.C. Code Ann. § 38-63-220 requiring that mutual rescission be commenced within the two-year contestability period.
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Related Documents: Client Bulletin: June 2022
In several years of unprecedented challenges and changes, CMN has continued to provide excellent representation to its clients and get the results that make us a “Go To” law firm for the insurance and financial services industry.
Late 2021 saw two big wins for CMN. A successful trial in 2019 resulted in a verdict in favor of our life insurance client on a complex STOLI and rescission case. Not only did we secure a multi-million dollar fraud judgment against the rogue agent involved, we also obtained a verdict that allowed our client to retain the premiums it earned as an equitable remedy for the effort it took to unravel the STOLI scheme at issue. CMN also represented our client in the appeal, and in late 2021, the Second Circuit affirmed the trial court’s judgment in all respects.
Also in late 2021, CMN secured summary judgment in favor of our client in a complex antitrust case against multiple life insurers brought by investors in a hedge fund that promised lucrative returns on non-recourse premium financing and STOLI investing. The judgment in favor of our client on all claims against it followed years of intense motion practice and discovery and was a complete vindication for our client, which maintained from the start that the claims against it were untenable.
And CMN continues to bring wins for its clients in 2022. CMN recently obtained judgment for its client in an ERISA case where beneficiaries sought accidental death benefits after a participant died due to his use of illicit cocaine and fentanyl. The court agreed that the participant’s death was not “accidental” because a substantial risk of overdose and death accompanies the use of illicit narcotics, meaning any expectation the participant had of surviving his use of those drugs—separately or in combined form—was objectively unreasonable. Furthermore, even if the participant’s death had been an accident, the plan’s exclusion for losses caused by the voluntary use of one or more illicit narcotics meant the participant’s death was not covered.
CMN Members Joe Jeffery and Julie Wall will be speaking on “Opioids and Accidental Death” at the Virtual 2021 Eastern Claims Conference, which kicks off Monday March 22, 2021. They will be talking about the intersection of the opioid epidemic, increased legalization of marijuana use, and accidental death claims. Learn how these trends are impacting the legal landscape. Joe and Julie will be speaking on Tuesday March 23, at 11:00 a.m. EDT, part of a conference that is chock full of excellent presentations for life, health and disability professionals. We look forward to “seeing” you there.
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Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC proudly announces that Craig M. Bargher has been named a Member of the Firm effective January 2021. Craig’s practice is focused on representing the Firm’s clients in a wide variety of litigation matters in state and federal courts, with extensive experience handling ERISA and individual life and disability litigation, as well as general commercial litigation.
